Cuffs
by praiseofshadows
Summary: Kaiba and the aftermath of Duelist Kingdom. Offscreen violence. No pairings. It's Anzu's turn to see the changes in Kaiba. But does she really understand? Abandoned.
1. Mokuba

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu-Gi-Oh.

I.

Mokuba's eyes narrowed. Nisama couldn't hide it. He might pretend that the silver cuffs were a new fashion statement. Something hip and cool to go with the new trench coat, but Mokuba knew otherwise.

He hadn't noticed it at first. So intent was he on grabbing his brother and making sure he was safe and whole and _not_ one of the fake duelists of Pegasus' he hadn't even noticed.

Hadn't noticed when Nisama flew the helicopter back to Domino, joystick firmly between his knees, hands steady and oh-so-pale.

Hadn't noticed when Nisama had stood, straight and proud, facing down the Big Five. Or later, when he lay strapped in the virtual pod. And, of course, in the virtual world, Mokuba had had bigger concerns to worry about.

But even Kaiba Seto couldn't keep back a wince that night when he took up his chopsticks.

It was then that Mokuba realized that his brother's wrists had been thoroughly smashed.

They didn't speak of it.

The cuffs became an addition to Nisama's wardrobe the very next day.

Mokuba badgered the truth out of the Kaiba Corp physician, a kindly man who was, nevertheless, ineffective. He'd rather take the money and carefully sew up stitches on young boys' backs than take those same young boys out of a harmful situation. Mokuba despised him, but he knew how to use him.

It eventually transpired that Pegasus had destroyed both of Nisama's wrists.

Steel rods and pins—cemented into those cuffs—were all that kept his brother's hands functioning. Simply put, there were no bones left to repair. Typing, playing cards, and any sort of video game were totally out of the question. Kaiba Seto was not supposed to do more than lift a dinner plate and not even that.

Mokuba knew it must have been agony for Nisama, especially since Nisama didn't believe in pain medication. He began to watch for the winces, the sudden and rapid blinks, when Nisama wrote programmed a line of code or chopped vegetables.

He began to make a point of saying, "I love you," before he went to bed.

Nisama ignored it like he ignored the pain in his wrists.


	2. Anzu

Disclaimer: Still don't own Yu-Gi-Oh

II.

Anzu always suspected Kaiba-kun's arrogance was just a put-on; something handy to shrug into when he needed it. Like his trench coat. She believed this because Kaiba-kun was only unbearable in certain situations: in class, for example, he was always quiet, courteous, and rarely ventured his opinion – though everyone knew that he always had the answer before the teacher. A truly arrogant person, Anzu felt, would not act in such a manner.

Nor would a truly arrogant person take so much trouble to hide parts of himself.

If one watched him in class, one could see his pencil moving far too irregular a fashion for taking notes. No, he would sketch the movements the teacher made: the hand gestures, the toss of the head, the quirks of an eyebrow. His copybook had more pictures than words, and they were—even to Anzu's untrained eyes—beautiful pictures. And yet, he never once bragged about his abilities, and he had gone white when she had once asked him about them. In art class, he never adopted the superior tone he did whenever he was in a duel. Instead, he would sit and half-heartedly work on a still-life, remaining silent whenever the teacher berated him for his lack of enthusiasm.

Anzu may not have played Duel Monsters herself, but she enjoyed puzzles all the same, and so she enjoyed watching the different facets of Kaiba-kun shimmer across her vision.

It was for this reason that she was the first member of the Yugi-tachi to notice.

She had changed more quickly than usual to her P.E. clothes, and so she had emerged into the gymnasium at the same time as the boys (the boys always managed to change faster than the girls). While Kaiba-kun had been dressed in the same white t-shirt and black shorts as everyone else, he was still wearing those silver cuffs he had taken to wearing during the Battle City Tournament.

Anzu frowned, watching the florescent light glint off the metal. It wasn't like Kaiba-kun to mix anything duel-related with school. The only time she had every heard him mention the game at school had been back at the beginning of their first year – when Jisan's Blue Eyes White Dragon had caught his fancy.

The instructor noticed the cuffs, too.

"You know the drill, Kaiba. No jewelry in the gym."

Kaiba-kun started, and Anzu had been watching him long enough to know that he never liked to be singled out at school. Then he straightened his spine and said in that haughty tone that always managed to make the recipient of it boiling-mad, "I'm not wearing jewelry."

Anzu wasn't surprised when the instructor said, "Perhaps we should discuss this further."

Kaiba-kun shrugged. He began to move towards the gymnasium office. The instructor followed.

Jounouchi wandered over to her, Yugi and Honda a few paces behind. "Kaiba's gonna get it." He sounded gleeful.

"Don't you think it's odd?" Anzu asked.

"No – he had it coming for a long time," Jou said.


End file.
